Hooray for the piggy bank: COLUMN

There's not much left of the red plastic pig that I've had since I was a youngster.

In fact, said bank is now not much more than a little taller than a margarine container as much of the plastic has broken off in recent years.

There'll be a new pig in my life soon. I think what's often pegged as a savings tool for youngsters can help adults set aside coins for a future expense. Count me as a believer in the savings power of the pig.

A piggy bank is also a savings program, but the goal is much more short-term. The saver realizes the reward of their efforts much sooner than a RRSP that won't get tapped for 30 or 40 years.

My brother, Mark, gave me copy of T. Harv Eker's Secrets of the Millionaire Mind a few years ago. The president of Peak Potentials Training offers a fancy name for what's basically a piggy bank, a financial freedom jar, and encourages readers to make daily deposits.

“This will put daily attention on your financial freedom, and where attention goes, results show,” writes Eker. He suggests the creation of several other accounts for long-term savings, education, charity and necessities.

I've definitely fallen short of everything Eker suggests. But he did encourage me to put my piggy bank back on active duty, with a goal of dropping in a loonie or toonie each day.

Looking back at 2017, I saved $299.75 over 10 months. The money helped pay for plumbing repairs and vehicle maintenance.

The new year is off to a promising start with $62 saved in January. Most of that money is going towards a summer trip.

Matthew Keenan, credit counsellor and education co-ordinator at Credit Counselling Service of Sault Ste. Marie, keeps a piggy bank on his desk at work and another one at home. He regularly highlights the piggy bank's importance when he meets with clients at the United Way agency's office on Queen Street East.

A piggy bank, Keenan told me in a recent interview, lets people set objectives.

“Goals are really what drive financial behaviour,” he said.

Our grandparents and great-grandparents saved for what they bought and “didn't owe anybody anything.” Now, Keenan observes, how purchases are made has flipped by buying on credit and paying interest of about 20 per cent on credit cards.

That can make for a pricey way to finance purchases, such as Christmas gifts and veterinarian bills, that shouldn't come as a surprise.

“These things are going to happen,” said Keenan. “People say they're unexpected expenses. People don't typically save for these things because we live in this instant gratification (world). We can't really project seven to 15 years in the future when we might need a new roof. We deal with it at the time.”

But the counter-cultural piggy bank offers users “a place to put our money for the future.” Saving for a specific purpose, maybe sticking a photo of what you're saving for on the pig, forces someone “to recognize that goal and work towards it,” said Keenan.

“It's making our money meaningful,” he said. “Money gets us stuff and credit gets us stuff, but once you add that meaning to it, 'This is what I'm saving for,' that's the driving motivating factor behind savings. Nobody saves just for fun. Savings isn't a fun thing to do. Savings allows us to get a goal, to achieve something we wanted to.”

Keenan hates carrying change. Cue the piggy banks.

“The beauty of it is that would have been money that would have just disappeared,” said Keenan. “It's change. It's easy to spend.”

That cash gets saved for December when Christmas-related expenses can add some extra stress on the finances.

“It helps make December that much easier,” said Keenan.

Hooray for the low-tech piggy bank and the lessons it can offer young and old on how even putting aside a dollar or two every day can help cover life's costs and help make managing one's personal finances a little easier.